Download File - Social Studies with Ms. Lyons

Geography of Mesopotamia
Global 1
Ms. Lyons
4 early River Valley Civilizations
• Sumerian Civilization - Tigris & Euphrates Rivers (Mesopotamia)
• Egyptian Civilization - Nile River
• Harappan Civilization - Indus River
• Ancient China - Huang He (Yellow) River
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
Environment
How did geography affect Mesopotamia’s civilization?
“Fertile Crescent”
Dry desert climate in Middle East
EXCEPT: a flat plain known as Mesopotamia (between the 2 rivers)
Shape + rich soil = Fertile Crescent
FERTILE SOIL
from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
River deposits sediment AKA “silt”
Grow lots of crops
Surplus (extra) food
Subsistence means just enough to feed your
family.
Effects of Geography
PROBLEMS
Unpredictable flooding
& too dry in summer
No natural barriers for
protection
Limited natural
resources
No: stone, wood, metal
SOLUTIONS
Irrigation ditches
Built city walls with
mud bricks
Traded for the products
they needed
Water = Transportation & Trade
Traveled to: North Africa, India, Asia
Sumerians made first wheeled vehicles to travel to
desert regions.
Cultural Diffusion:
Ancient written languages are very similar!
Why are they so similar?
Power & Authority
What was the social structure of Mesopotamia?
Why did Mesopotamia need a government?
Social Structure
Religion = important
polytheistic
Slaves (not free citizens)
not on social pyramid
Women had “many” rights (at the time)
Could: own property, become a low-level priest
Could not: go to school (read & write)
Priests, royalty
Rich merchants
Regular
workers
Government was needed to…
Control surplus food
Coordinate the irrigation system
Irrigation: bringing water to dry fields using ditches
Government leaders = priests & royalty
Hammurabi’s Code
Babylon (civilization in Mesopotamia)
1,000 years after Sumer
1st written laws
Unified all laws into one code, carved them onto
stone, & hung them up
1st leader to say the government is responsible for
keeping society in order
STRICT LAWS!
Others used his laws too (Old Testament)
Shamash, the sun god, is
presenting to Hammurabi a
staff and ring, which
symbolize the power to
administer the law.
Science & Technology
What was created in ancient Mesopotamia that we still use today?
Sumer’s Inventions
Cuneiform
One of the 1st writing systems
Wheel, sail, plow
1st people to use bronze
Early maps
Astronomy (studying stars)
Measuring in 60’s
Time: 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour
Math: 360 degrees = circle
ACTIVITY
Let’s see if you are as harsh as Hammurabi…
Partnered Students Handout
Hammurabi, the king of righteousness,
On whom Shamash has conferred the Law,
am I.
When Marduk sent me to rule over men,
to give the protection of right to the land,
I did right and in righteousness brought about
the well-being of the oppressed.
Below are situations Hammurabi faced.
You and your partner decide what you think to be a fair way to deal with the problem.
Then together we’ll view what Hammurabi actually declared.
We’ll find out if Marduk, the supreme god, will be pleased with your decisions?
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What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and belittles her husband?
What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a drink?
What should be done if a son is adopted and then the birth-parents want him back?
What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
What should happen to a boy who slaps his father?
What happens to the wine seller who fails to arrest bad characters gathered at her shop?
How is the truth determined when one man brings an accusation against another?
http://www.phillipmartin.info/hammurabi/hammurabi_situation_index.htm
Compiled and Illustrated by
Phillip Martin
copyright 1998
http://www.phillipmartin.info/ham
murabi/hammurabi_situation_index
.htm